Steve Mason is learning that it's easier to play hockey when you have equipment that fits.

The Columbus Blue Jackets goalie, a disappointment since winning the Calder Trophy in 2009, is 7-3-1 with a 2.67 goals-against average and .922 save percentage since switching to bigger pads on Feb. 11.

At 6-4, 217 pounds, Mason is one of the NHL's biggest goalies and, according to goaltending coach Ian Clarke, was "playing undersized relative to league limits."

Before the switch, Mason, 23, had won five of his previous 22 games.

“There were times with the old stuff when I was getting hit in the ribs and was full of bruises,” Mason told The Columbus Dispatch. “You almost become scared of getting hit with the puck so you’re turning your body, and … that’s not the right way to play. With the new stuff you have confidence that pucks aren’t going to hurt you, and because it is larger, some pucks that might have squeaked through before are now hitting a piece of equipment.”

Mason's reasoning behind the switch: “I never knew I could,” Mason said. “If I knew, I would have done it three years ago. I guess I was a little out of the loop on that kind of stuff. But we’ll make it work now.”

The pads haven't fixed all of Mason's problems—he has allowed five goals twice and four once since making the switch—but it's an improvement on the way he'd played for much of the last three seasons. After two straight seasons with .901 save percentages and GAAs around 3.00, Mason cratered in 2011-12. Even with the new pads, his .894 save percentage and 3.28 GAA are second-worst among the league's 45 qualified goalies.

The Blue Jackets are the NHL's worst team but had won three of four before their current three-game losing streak. They play the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.